Impressions and Feelings: Part...nevermind
Last year I did a series on impressions and feelings in the Christian life, and I asked the question whether we are to interpret these things as coming from God (see tag: Cessationism -scroll down). Obviously, I made the point then that we cannot biblically affirm that impressions and feelings come from God. There was quite a bit discussion in that series, as there are some who definitely disagree with that.
Today I thought I'd just throw in a quick quote by Phil Johnson. In my sidebar, I just linked to a Dan Phillips article on Team Pyro (discussing spiritual gifts), and in that thread Phil Johnson made a great comment that I believe deserves mentioning here. Take head my brothers and sisters:
"I'm tied up with meetings today and unable to participate in the blog-discussion, but a couple of people have e-mailed me privately with the same question about this thread. One begged me for an answer; the other accused me of dodging the question.
So here's the question and my short answer:
Q: If God doesn't speak to you directly, how does he "lead" you to do anything? How, for example, did you know Darlene was the right person to marry?; how did you know you were called to ministry?; and how do you explain it when a thought pops into your head and prompts you to pray for someone?
Short answer: I trust the providence of God. I can't necessarily interpret the providence of God infallibly, though.
So if (for example) I suddenly think to pray for the safety or holiness of one of my children, I don't need to interpret that as a prophetic message from God that Pecadillo or one of his brothers in in immediate danger. But I pray for them nonetheless, though I can't possibly understand why that thought popped into my head or even discern correctly whether it originated in my own imagination or was immediately infused into my brain by the Holy Spirit.
If it turns out later that I prayed at exactly the right moment when some specific danger befell one of my kids, I praise God for a remarkable providence.
I DON'T, however, twist it into some kind of quasi-revelation and use it as an excuse to trust my own heart. Scripture says those who do that are fools (Proverbs 28:26).
Here's the thing: I trust Providence enough to believe that God ordained that I should pray, and He will answer my prayer for His glory and my good, even if the thought that prompted the prayer was out of my own imagination.
But it would be a sin for me to claim God "told" me to pray about that particular thing at that particular time when He did no such thing.
Providence, people. Go and learn what that means, and we can avoid having this debate every 6 weeks or so.
Here's a book, written by a good friend of mine, that deals with this issue well."
6 Exhortations:
Nathan,
I couldn't have said it better. Why is it that so many have to "appear" so spiritual and claim that God is telling them to do all these things?? Indeed we recognize that God is sovereign over everyone's affairs, but we act out of our desires, and our desires are based upon what's in our hearts. So why can't men be content with simply doing things and just claim that they wanted to do it and trust in the Providence of God?
In light of the "how do you know you were called" challenge, I would highly recommend Matthew Henry's preface to his Commentary on the Whole Bible. He goes into some great length there to struggle over that very issue, as a man who simultaneously believes that direct, special revelation has ceased; and yet, that God personally calls His ministers to preach. His answer, too, by the way, may be boiled down to Providence. Very interesting, though.
Hey Gordan, I haven't read that particular Henry section. However, wouldn't it seem simply that a man has the desire to preach and then others evaluate him in the areas of qualifications, say in 1 Tim and Titus? I know you agree with that. Of course that would be to be an elder, not simply preach.
Tim, I do agree. But we've all known guys who desired to preach but clearly needed to be doing something else, so in a case like that, you'd have to say that God has providentially allowed that man to have a desire that is not really in accord with the will of God. That's more what Henry struggled with, the meticulous analysis of his own desires, and whether it could be determined that they were "of the Lord."
I guess I'm asking the question: Are we making a distinction between preaching and pastoring? Aren't we all called to preach or proclaim the gospel? I believe we are. However, in today's context, we associate preaching with pastoring. I wanted to make the distinction:)
Wow. Phil Johnson just posted another article on this subject (march 31). Excellent! The comments especially are worth reading.
Hey guys, what about a difference in preaching and teaching? There are some who can teach very well in a particular setting. Say, for example, someone is an excellent teacher one and one, or very good with dialogue and small group, but not so good in front of a larger group of listeners.
But you've hit on an important point, and one that Tim and I have discussed recently: who gets to decide who is called and who isn't? Is it up to the majority rule? Is it up to the individual? Can just anyone affirm a qualification of an elder? Can just any large group of people affirm a calling to be a pastor?
If someone feels that he is called, he is to be affirmed by the other qualified leaders as having the gifts/qualifications. No doubt, many are called, but few are chosen :)
SDG
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